1 - There are a lot of photographers who really know their stuff and actively participate2 - It's a veritable treasure trove of practical information, tips and insights for photography3 - There's a good balance of encouragement and critique4 - It's truly international and not dominated by any one nationality5 - The writing is mature and literate - hats off to allophones!6 - There's a lot more tolerance than intolerance 7 - It's somehow bigger than just photography, even though photography is at the core of it

I was first pointed to this site to have a look at one of the photoshop tutorials,contrast masking, I then discovered the other great tutorials and essays so, for me the site is a tremendous photography resource. I have also bought all of the LL DVD's which I have watched many many times, actually pretty disappointed that Michael and Chris have greatly slowed down on their production of the DVD's.

1 - There are a lot of photographers who really know their stuff and actively participate2 - It's a veritable treasure trove of practical information, tips and insights for photography3 - There's a good balance of encouragement and critique4 - It's truly international and not dominated by any one nationality5 - The writing is mature and literate - hats off to allophones!6 - There's a lot more tolerance than intolerance 7 - It's somehow bigger than just photography, even though photography is at the core of it[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=194127\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Ditto on all of these points.

Years ago, I was an active Amateur Radio Operator (AJ2V), and what I liked about it most was the mutual helpfulness, with everybody willing to share knowledge rather than hoard it and use it to amass status or power. The LL forum captures that giving spirit. Thankfully, people here are much more self-disciplined than on many other forums, and things are generally kept on a non-personal and civil tone.

When I was switching to digital, I was looking for a forum with knowledgeable people that wasn't full of silverback wanna bees who simply wanted to browbeat newcomers with petty brand loyalty biases. Though not perfect, this site was the best I found. It is generally pretty useful and I have learned allot. It helped pave the way for a pretty smooth and profitable transition.

I like this forum as it is about Photgraphy and gear. Without the tiresome childrens measuring their equipment in the showerrooms to feel better about themself.

I really like that people arnīt so aggeressive about brands of camera.

Also this only forum I found that it cover all photography. From camera equipment, digital processing and printing. I dont write a lot but I learnt a lot from browsing and searching with addition off Luminous Landscape execellent tutorials. I really feel started to conquer the technical part off photography.

Also I feel people argue and dicuss. But not just meaning less fights.

Just not see a flame wars about which brand or camera is best just make it worth time read here.

Also as me as the struggling amateur it is fun to read the bigger boys challenges and learn from them.

Funny thing, but when the people that shouldn't be here come here, and they see all those weird topic headers like 'MF backs' etc., they realize something's not right and go elsewhere. That helps.[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=194392\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Good grief, Dale, you are sailing perilously close to the shores of Elite! Quite agree with you, by the way; for me itīs a wearied-by-age thing, where time gets more precious as you run out of it and is wasted less graciously.

Varied opinions from experienced users of many walks of life most of whom have insightful comments about the issues concerning photography and its equipment. Valuable resource for bouncing ideas to help us all be better photographers

Genuine folks that share a keen interest in photography and the current technology needed to enhance the photo making and sharing experience. I particularly enjoy the candid interaction between top names in fine art photography (Schewe, Reichmann, Rodney and others), other pros and hobbyists.

The forum is also a great way to check the "pulse" of photography while learning about new equipment and related technologies and growing with others.

An office drone pension administrator by day and a photo-enthusiast by night, week-end and on vacation who carries his camera when traveling the world:Please have a chew on my photos: http://www.fluidr.com/photos/phil_marion/sets

I have also found this forum a great learning resource, not just with regard to the excellent tutorials on the main site and the video tutorials, but through the many interactive discussions that take place on the forum where sometimes (hopefully) conventional wisdom may be challenged and new insights gained.

Brand loyalty, or even format loyalty, is deplorable (except for the dealers and manufacturers who thrive on such loyalty). I would say that brand (or format) loyalty is the one thing that spoils the site.

When discussing equipment performance, it is necessary to give the equipment under discussion a name, just as it's necessary to give performance characteristics a name, such as, noise, resolution, dynamic range, frame rate, etc.

It's surprising how difficult it appears to be for many folks to confine themselves to the issue at hand and refrain from branching out into ad hominen attacks, of the nature of either direct personal insults, or the more subtle ploy of shifting the argument to a more personal arena which has no direct bearing on the issue at hand.

It's surprising how difficult it appears to be for many folks to confine themselves to the issue at hand and refrain from branching out into ad hominen attacks, of the nature of either direct personal insults, or the more subtle ploy of shifting the argument to a more personal arena which has no direct bearing on the issue at hand.[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=195641\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Yes, that does sometimes happen here. However, I see more restraint here than on many of the other forums. That contentious tone has made me leave several forums, even when it was not directed against me.

Ideally, people should be able to present ideas and have those ideas criticized in a civil tone without feeling personally attacked. However, I think it must be pretty universal to feel defensive or misunderstood, particularly among people sensitive enough to be good photographers (Tongue stuck deep in cheek).

I would say if you ever visited site like dpreview. Brand loyalty goes as far to be a religion all most. It is about the same experience as reading on a religion discussion forum.

The people here is more well-mannered. So the format and brand loyalty isnīt in your face like dpreview.

I just took dpreview as a example.

I would say that most threads here arnīt plagued with post just showing off my gear is better than you.

All forums has their share off personal attacks and childish behaviour when it reach a certain size. The amount off that particular behaviour here is really hiding in the shadows and you really have to raise the exposure a lot to see the noise ;-)

In my opinion I think you may pixelpeep a bit and look for the noise. If you look at the image at whole, I think it is pleasing and has good quality overall.